Railroad spike puller



March 13, 1951 c. s. GRIMM 2,545,027

RAILROAD SPIKE FULLER Filed Jan. 7, 1949 Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 13, 1951 c, s, GRlMM 2,545,027

RAILROAD SPIKE FULLER Filed Jan. '7, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 Maven/or CgarZe S 6421mm Patented Mar. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT "OFFICE RAILROAD SPIKE FULLER;

Charles S.. Grimm, Iowa City, Iowa, assignor of one-half to Glenn F. Carpenter, Chicago, Ill.

Application January 7, 1949', Serial'No. 69,672

3. Claims. 1

The present invention 'relatesto asrailroad spike puller and more particularly to a tool to remove the spike from a tie that holds the rail in place.

It is an object of theinventiomamongothers, to provide a railroad spike puller that operates on the principle of a. leverv and removes a rail-- road spike in two. pulls on the head oithespike.

It is another object. of the invention to provide a railroadspike. pullerwherein thepulling force to'remove the railroad spike from a tie comes on the head of the spike to give a straight upward pull with no bending of the-spike in pulling, hence the spike. is not/bent and needs no straightening for re-use.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a railroad spike puller wherein no blocking or shimming underneath the puller is necessary to get a lever arm long enough to remove the spike and since the force is appliedto the head of a spike there will be no nicking or weakening of the prong of the spike.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a railroad spike puller wherein the head of the spike is protected by the spike puller at all times and the head of the spike cannot be inadvertently pulled off the spike prong when force is applied to the head with the danger of hitting the workmen.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a railroad spike puller wherein the spike can be removed without binding on a tie plate in view of the straight pull to remove the spike.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a railroad spike puller which is simple in construction, thoroughly reliable and efficient in operation, strong, durable, readily and easily handled, hand operated, enables a spike to be pulled with dispatch and ease and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 shows the railroad spike puller in elevation attached to a railroad spike holding a railroad rail to a tie.

Figure 2 is a part elevational view and a part sectional view showing lower claws of the railroad spike puller attached to a spike head.

Figure 3 is a part elevational view and a part sectional view showing lower claws of the railroad spike puller attached to a spike headand the spike removed part way from thetie.

Figure 4 is a part elevational view'and a part sectional view showing upper claws of the railroad spike puller attached to a spike head after the spike has been removed partway'by the lower claws to remove the spikeentirely from the tie.

Figure 5 is a front'elevational view of the railroad spike puller witha spike shown in both upper and lower claws;

In Figure 1 the railroad spike puller is shown at A and a railroad rail is shown-at I seated on a tie 2 with a tie plate 3 between the rail I and the tie 2. A spike 4- is driventhrough the tie [plate B-into tie 2 to hold the rail inplace on the tie 2.

The railroad spike puller A is used as shown in Figure 1 to remove the spike 4 when it becomes necessary to remove the spike 4. The puller A has a foot 5 which has a heel portion 6' and a toe portion I. The bottom 8 is arcuate shaped soas to allow the foot 5 to rock back and forth on the bottom 8. A handle '9 connects to the heel portions of the foot 5. The handle 9 is of substantial length and an operator grasps the handle 9 to rockthe-pulley Aback and-forth on the bottom portion 8.

The toe {portion I has a pair of lower claws I0 and II with the claws-in and II spaced apart with a notch I2 therebetween. The claws I0 and It formthe side walls of slot I 2 and the claws it and II are arcuate in shape. The claws Ill and II receive the head l-3ofthe spike-4 as shown in Figure 2. As the handle 9: is pushed downwardly, as in Figure 3, the foot 5 rides on the bottom portion 8 and is rocked so that the heel 6 extends downwardly and the toe I is moved upwardly. The claws IQ and II contact the head I3 of the spike 4 and the upward lift of the toe I the spike 4 is lifted out of the tie 2. As the toe portion I continues to rise, the arcuate shaped claws I0 and II are moved upwardly hence the side walls of the claws I9 and I I only contact the spike head I 3 at the front. The spike head I3 shifts in the claws Ill and I l as the toe (portion I is lifted upwardly and the force is always transmitted to the spike 4 as a straight upward force hence there will be no bending of the spike 4 by components of force. The lower claws III and II lift the spike 4 about three inches out of tie 2 after which it is necessary to remove the puller A.

Figure 4 shows the toe portion 1 with an upper pair of claws I4 and I5 which are directly above the lowerclaws I I! and ll and have a slot I6 therebetween to receive the prong H from the spike 4. The claws I4 and I5 are straight and when the prong I7 is first entered into slot 16, the claws l4 and I contact the sides of spike head I 3. The slot 16 terminates in a projection 18 which projection fits under the head It at the back of the spike 4.

With the spike 4 out about three inches as shown in Figure 4, the spike puller A is fitted into the spike 4 by engaging the upper claws I 4 and i5 under the head [3 of spike 4. As the operator presses down on handle 9 the foot 5 is rocked on bottom portion 8 and the toe portion 1 is lifted upwardly. The projection l8 contacts the head l3 at the rear and the force from the handle 9 being moved downwardly is transmitted to the spike 4 at the back of the spike 4. The handle in moving downwardly would tend to bend the spike 4 to the right if the claws l4 and 15 were effective. The projection IB is only a point contact hence at least half of the force from handle 9 is transmitted to projection H! as a reactive force. This reactive force tends to push the spike to left, hence the forces at the projection M are somewhat neutralized and, the spike 4 will come out'of tie 2 straight.

A top portion l9 extends from the foot portion 5 and extends over the upper claws I4 and !5. The head portion l3 of the spikes sometimes becomes weakened by corrosion. Refrigeration cars running over the railways discharge salt water which hastens corrosion of the spikes below the head portions l3. When the spike puller A is first attached to the spike 4 as in Figure 2, the initial pull on the spike 4 requires the greatest force and if the spike 4 is slightly corroded it is very easy to break ofi the head 13 of spike 4. If this occurs while the claws H3 and II are lifting the head 13, the head l3 will strike the upper claws l4 and I5 and be stopped without being able to fly into the air with consequent hazard to workmen. If the head I3 breaks loose while in the claws l4 and 15 the portion I9 will prevent the head l3 from flying loose in the air. The spike puller contains its own protection against flying spike heads.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention, or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A railroad spike puller comprising a foot with a toe and heel portion, a bottom portion of the foot being arcuate to provide a rocker action,

a lower claw and an upper claw formed in the toe portion, the upper claw covering the lower claw with a top portion of the foot extending over the upper claw, the upper claw having a notch with straight side walls to receive the head of a spike after it has been pulled out part way by the lower claw, a projection at the back of the notch in the upper claw contacting the head of the spike to lift the spike and a handle extending from the heel of the foot for a substantial distance to provide a means to rock the foot on the bottom portion to raise the toe upwardly.

2. A railroad spike puller comprising a foot with a toe and heel portion, a bottom portion of the foot being arcuate to provide a rocker action, a lower claw and an upper claw formed in the toe portion, the upper claw covering the lower claw with a top portion of the foot extending over the upper claw, the lower claw having an arcuate shaped notch to receive a spike head with the side walls forming the notch lifting the spike head, the upper claw having a notch with straight side walls defining the notch to receive the spike head after it has been pulled out part way by the lower claw, a projection at the back of the notch in the upper claw contacting the head of the spike to lift the spike and a handle extending from the heel of the foot for a substantial distance to provide a means to rock the foot on the bottom portion to raise the toe upwardly.

3. A railroad spike puller comprising a foot with a toe and heel portion, a bottom portion of the foot being arcuate to provide a rocker action, a lower claw and an upper claw formed in the toe portion, the upper claw covering the lower claw with a top portion of the foot extending over the upper claw, the upper claw having a notch to receive the head of a spike after it has been pulled out part way by the lower claw, a projection at the back of the notch in the upper claw contacting the head of the spike to lift the spike and a handle extending from the heel of the foot for a substantial distance to provide a means to rock the foot on the bottom portion to raise the toe upwardly.

CHARLES S. GRIMM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 724,542 Brownell Apr. 7, 1903 1,903,557 Swoyer Apr. 11, 1933 

